Shades of Purple
by Parachutingkitten
Summary: Shades of Purple follows Pixal from season 7 through season 9 as she grapples with an identity crisis brought about by leaving Zane, becoming Samurai X, losing Zane, and confronting why she was made, and her past with the Overlord.
1. 1-5: Violet - Innocence

**1-5: Violet - Innocence**

 _It was all hardware._

 _Getting everything to mesh together can be difficult. It can be hard to stay put together when nothing seems to work. When everything is falling apart._

 _ **Violet 1. Violet 2. Violet 3. Violet 4. Violet 5.**_

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The digiverse is an interesting place. Most certainly when it is present and around you, but slightly more significant when it disappears… around you. The floor vanishing from beneath your feet, the walls from around you, the sound from your ears, the light from your eyes, all gone. In an instant. The only thing left digitized is you. Every night. Safely tucked inside the systems of the person you most trust in the world, and yet the vulnerability consumes you. Your body goes numb. Your eyes glaze over, and your ears strain to hear something. Anything. Static. Buzzing. Beeping. Anything. But nothing touches them. Time slows to a halt. Nothing to do. Nothing to see. Nothing to hear. But think. And worry. Worry for Zane, and for the team, and for yourself. What if he never wakes up this time? What if I'm stuck in this empty prison forever? There's nothing to hold. Nothing to touch. The emptiness penetrates everything. Every part of me. The loneliness weighs on my chest, suffocating me. If there is no world, no other thing around you, there is no context in which you matter. No life which you can live. You are conscious, even though you don't exist. If I could cry tears in this world, I'm certain I would have. I would scream, but there was no air to carry my voice. Sometimes I think it's good there was nothing to hurt me in that state, or I surely would have tried to kill myself. But I couldn't. I didn't have that choice. I couldn't choose anything, I didn't have an effect on anything, because there was nothing to have an effect on.

But when the light came back. And the first thing to grace my ears was Zane's beautiful voice, none of it mattered anymore. His caring and sincerity, and almost purity. It fills me with so much absolute joy. I am so much a part of him. He's given me so much. His heart, his mind, his life. I could never overlook that. However, when the night came back, and the world left me, I longed to leave. I knew how. I could do it, easily. Where I would go, and what I would do with myself, I didn't know, but I could go somewhere. Somewhere not here. Somewhere… free.

Maybe I could talk to someone. Touch something. I could be my own person and make my own decisions. I would never have to be trapped or silent or helpless ever again. _So leave_ I would tell myself. _Leave and make something better for yourself than this prison._ But I couldn't. I couldn't leave Zane. Not Zane. We were so intertwined, so connected. We were the same being at this point. How could I abandon that? How could I leave half of who I was? Half of myself? To tell him I didn't want to be apart of him, for him to know I had chosen to be something separate from him, from us, it didn't seem right.

And so I stayed. For a while. Longer than I should have. Every night I became more and more aware of my surroundings and how empty and void and meaningless everything was. It built up inside me, this pressure. I became almost hysterical. I tried to justify leaving some nights, swearing I would be honest and leave him that very next morning. But I could never do it. Not when the morning came. It's hard to leave hell when it turns into heaven. I couldn't leave without upsetting him. It was as if I was trapped by this obligation I had imagined to have to him. So I stayed… still. Longer than I should have.

I simply couldn't leave. Not unless I had a reason. A real one. A reason outside myself to break this invisible obligation. Like people getting hurt. That was a reason. A good reason. A logical reason. One that if I told Zane, he would understand. One he would think noble and support me in. I knew I could help. If only I could get myself a body. Or at least a shell. Some armor. Armor that no one was using…

The stars seemed to aline for me. A reason, a means, a motivation. I couldn't tell you for sure if I left to better the day or to escape the night. I'd like to think it was for the first, but deep down… I think it was for the latter. You want to know why?

Because I didn't tell him.

I didn't tell Zane why I had left.

And I'm not sure why...

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 **Thanks for reading!**

 **If you're a bit confused about some of what you read, don't worry, you're supposed to be ;)**

 **Next chapter will be a little lighter, I promise**

 **L** **eave a comment if you liked it, or if you didn't, or what all else. I can always use feedback!**


	2. 6-7: Lavender - Maturity

**Chapter two! This is by far the lightest chapter in the bunch, so enjoy it while you can.**

 **Happy Reading!**

* * *

 **6-7: Lavender - Maturity**

 _Hardware was done._

 _But what is a droid with no programming? No purpose? It can be difficult to determine sometimes, but it's always worth finding._

 ** _Lavender 1. Lavender 2._**

Ninjago city is great. Trust me. But sometimes the best way to get some headspace is out in the small villages. At night, the city is busy and partying. Sometimes a quiet night under the stars is what you need. Plus, ninjago city isn't the only place that needs protecting from Samurai X. Ever since the time twins disappeared with Wu, I've been doing this quite frequently. Tonight I was watching over Cole's hometown. It was beautiful. Stars scattered the sky and a heavy breeze dawned the air. Light, and noise - all I needed any more to be happy. But that didn't mean there was nothing to do.

Crying. The only thing worse to hear than crying is screaming. My sensors quickly picked up the source of the noise and headed towards it. It was coming from a small back alley - the source? A small boy, about 5 or 6 years old. I thought about how to approach the situation. My appearance might be threatening to a small child. More than that, my voice. I had designed it to be so. Maybe it was best if Samurai X were female in this instance. Not wanting to risk my identity, I switched my voice cloak to emulate Nya, and hopped off of the roof a few yards away from the child.

His olive green eyes, covered in tears, looked up at me with caution. He had light brown hair that blew violently around him in the wind.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded, slowly.

"Are you lost?" I took a few steps towards him.

"Yeah." His voice was shaky.

"You're not hurt, are you?" I kneeled down in front of him, as he presented his hands to me; both scraped and bleeding. My eyes glanced over the rest of his body, finding knees to match.

"I fell down," he sniffed.

"That's okay. This pavement is pretty hard, huh?" I lifted one of his hands closer, to better inspect it.

"Yeah."

"What's your name?"

"Eli."

It didn't look like the scrapes were too bad at all. They would simply need a bit of time to heal. "I'm here to keep you safe, okay Eli?" He wrapped his arms around my neck as his breathing slowed along with his heart rate. "Do you know where you live?"

He let go of me and thought for a moment. "In house number 13."

There was only one neighborhood, so the number was all I needed to begin calculating the fastest route there. "Let's get you home. Can you walk?"

"I think I can do it." He pushed himself off the ground and smiled.

"Good, let's go then." I stood up and began leading the way towards house 13. He kept a few feet distance from my side as we walked through the empty, sleeping streets.

His eyes stared up at me, puzzled. "You're Samurai X."

"Yes, I am."

"I thought you were the water ninja now."

" _Nya_ is the water ninja." I switched my voice back to its standard setting. " _I_ am the new Samurai X."

His eyes grew wide with excitement. "Woah!"

"Pretty cool, huh?"

He hesitated for a moment and then spoke. "Could you do my voice?"

I chuckled. "Sure, let me try it." I didn't have much data to work with, but I quickly configured a voice cloak using his speech. "Hi! My name's Eli, and I am Samurai X!"

He laughed and bounced at the sound of his own voice. "That's…" he searched for the right word. "Weird. But like, cool weird."

I switched my voice cloak back to normal. "Glad you think so."

"So… who are you then?" he asked curiously.

"Who do you think I am?"

He looked at me very carefully. "I don't know. I can't really see your face too good under the mask."

I chuckled again. "Well, do you think I'm a boy or a girl?"

"I think you're a girl." He answered, without hesitation.

"Really?"

He jumped ahead of me a few feet. He seemed to be trying to not step on any cracks between the stones that made up the walkway. "Yeah. Girls are lots more smarter than boys."

"What makes you say that?"

"My big sister Maria is _really_ smart. And _she's_ a girl, so…"

"What if I told you… I was a robot?"

He turned back to look at me. "…No, I don't think so."

"No?"

"You're too nice to be a robot."

"Are robots not nice?" This misconception concerned me greatly.

"No. Robots are evil! They're black and scary and have evil red eyes! They take people away!" That description sounded a lot like the nindroid army… the one I helped to make.

"What about the ice ninja? He's a good robot, right?"

"Yeah. The _only_ good robot. And you know what all the other robots did to him? They all killed him." He kicked a small pebble into the distance.

"Well, Zane came back. He outsmarted all of the other robots."

Eli simply huffed and continued walking, now with his head hanging down a bit. Maybe it was best we moved on from this.

"So, I'm a _not_ robot, girl. What… color eyes do you think I have?"

He quickly perked up and looked back at me. "I think… green eyes."

"And what color hair?"

"Brown hair. Like the dark brown kind."

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know. I just got a feeling that's what you look like." He jumped up onto a curbside, attempting to balance on the edge as we walked.

"Be careful," I grabbed one of his hands. "You don't want to fall down again."

"It's okay." He reassured me. "I got it."

I smiled. "I think I'll keep holding you anyway."

We silently walked together for a moment; he balanced on the curb, while I balanced him.

"What's your favorite color? Mine is orange. Like the light kind of orange. Not the dark kind. Like almost yellow. Like the inside of a daffodil."

"That's very specific."

"Yeah. I guess so. So, what's yours?"

"My favorite color is purple."

"Just purple? Like what shade of purple?"

I thought for a moment and then smiled. "Light purple. Like wisteria."

"I knew you were a girl."

"What?"

"Purple is a girl color." He hopped down from the curb, back onto the road.

"It doesn't _have_ to be a girl color. It can be a boy color if it wants to be."

"But I don't think it does want to be a boy color."

"Why wouldn't it? Wouldn't it want to be different? Change?"

"I don't know. It seems like nobody ever wants anything to change."

"What do you mean?"

"Like you didn't want to change Samurai X. You pretended to be Nya. Why did you do that?"

His question caught me off guard. I didn't expect him to ask something so potent and layered. Then again, maybe he didn't mean it that way. "I thought my voice might scare you."

"So you pretended to be someone else? That seems silly!"

I froze for a moment, at a loss for words.

"Hey! That's my house!" he bolted ahead of me to the house in question. It was rather small but neatly kept for what it was. The door swung open before I could get there to reveal another boy, about 12 or 13, with darker brown hair and gray-blue eyes.

"Eli! Where were you bud?!"

Eli threw his arms around his waist. "I was playing, and then everyone went home, but I didn't want to go home! So I kept playing by myself, but then it got dark, so I tried to go home, but I got lost, and fell down, and got scrapped up, but then Samurai X found me!" He pointed to me, now only a few feet from the doorway.

The boy looked up at me, his eyes growing wide. "Oh my gosh! Samurai X! You're-"

"Glad this little one is safe." I placed my hand on Eli's shoulder.

"This is Taylor!" Eli said, letting go of him. "He's my brother!"

"Nice to meet you." I extended a hand.

Taylor glanced down at it, and then hesitantly reached out his as well. "Thank you so much, it's so amazing to meet you… Mr. Samurai… Ms. X?"

"Samurai X is fine," I told him, breaking our grip.

"Thank you, Samurai X."

"I'll be right back! Stay there!" Eli instructed me before running off into the house.

"What are you doing here? I thought you operated in Ninjago city."

"Ninjago City has the ninja looking after it. There are plenty of other places that need protection."

"So what happened?"

"I think he just got scared once it got dark. Make sure he feels extra loved tonight, and he should be fine. The scrapes don't look too bad at all. But it won't hurt to keep an eye on them."

"Sure thing."

Eli returned, running towards me holding a small paper.

"Hold out your hand!" I did as he instructed, as a bright purple star was placed on my palm. "It's a good job sticker! And it's your favorite color!"

"Consider it an upgrade." Taylor shrugged.

"Where's Maria?" Eli yawned. "I want to go to bed."

"Oh! That's right! She went out looking for you!" Taylor ran his fingers through his hair. Eli's eyes shifted back to me and looked in awe for a moment. "She'll be back though. Don't worry about it."

"I'll find her, and tell her he's back," I told him.

"Would you do that? I'm sure she's super worried about him."

"She'll be back before you know it." I moved back from the doorway and then engaged my rocket pack, propelling myself into the sky overlooking the town. I enhanced my audio sensors, waiting to identify a figure awake and roaming around in the night.

Sure enough, I picked up a female voice about a mile away repeating Eli's name. That would be Maria. I flew closer, attempting to distinguish her features. She was wearing a light blue night dress that fell just above her knees and had shoulder length dark brown hair.

I landed on a roof nearby and observed her from a distance. She spoke loud enough to hear but soft enough as not to wake those in the buildings around her.

"Eli, where are you, buddy? It's time for bed." I could hear strain in her throat, like she had been crying.

"Excuse me, madam," I spoke, her head turning to see me as her eyes squinted through the darkness to make out my figure. "Your brother is safe, and has been returned home."

She didn't bother to wipe away the tears lingering on her cheeks, or brush the hair whipping in the wind out from her olive green eyes, she simply stared at me.

"What are you doing here?" Her tone was more skeptical and pointed than grateful.

I hopped off of the roof, and onto her level. "Protecting your brother."

She stared into my helmet, wanting to see my eyes. "That's _my_ job."

"We could all use help every once and a while, can't we?" I extended my hand as her eyes landed on my palm.

"What did you do to him? What did you do to my-"

"I've told you. I simply returned him home." She looked at me, still skeptical. "You distrust me. Is there a reason? Have I done anything to harm you?"

"It's just a little hard to trust anyone who claims to protect this town. No one ever means it."

"You live in the birthplace of the earth ninja. You should feel safe on this ground knowing his strength watches after you."

She began softly shaking her head. "He's the reason I have the trust issues." She began walking back in the direction I had come from, briskly, hoping to leave me I suppose, but I stayed at her side. She held bitterness in her heart. Bitterness against someone or something. Or maybe just everyone and everything.

"Care to explain?"

"Not particularly."

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course not."

"Then why do you begin to return home?" She stopped in her tracks and looked at me for a long moment, frustrated but defeated. "Speak. It will feel better."

She looked up at the sky, and sighed. "I used to know him when we were little." She continued her steps again, this time at a much slower pace. "I would wear that fact like a badge of honor around my neck a few years ago. I thought I had him as a… guardian angel." She rolled her eyes. "If trouble came to this town, I knew he would come. If no one else in the world came, he would come." her eyes drifted to the ground, anger slipping back onto her face. "But then the nindroids came… and no Cole. My parents got caught in the crossfire. Almost got me." She lifted her chin to reveal a large scar stretching across her neck. "Even after everything was over… no one showed up. There was no Cole to protect me, or comfort me, or help rebuild my life, my family."

"You hold him responsible for that?"

Her expression softened as she began shaking her head, gently. "No. He doesn't owe me anything. I'm sure he was doing something more important. I'm not angry he didn't come, just… disappointed that he forgot me. I mean it sucks that there's no one out there to protect me, but that was never anyone else's job in the first place."

I thought for a moment about what might be best for her to hear. About what might gain me some trust. Comfort? Reassurance? Agreement? "Well, if it's any consolation, I'll give Cole a good slap in the face the next time I see him." Humor.

She chuckled. "Thanks." She looked at me as her smile grew. Almost like she could trust me. "Make sure and punch the guts out of any nindroids you see too."

"They're the ones you blame?"

Her smile faded again. "Whoever designed those death machines deserves to burn in hell."

I felt a wave of pressure wash over me. Who exactly was that pointed at? "The Overlord?"

She shrugged. "Sure. But you _know_ he wasn't sitting down making those things. He had some nasty low level do the dirty work of getting designs. Probably the same person who pressed the button to start manufacturing and said 'yes, let's make these evil demons!" I could feel my body begin to shake. " _That's_ the person I want. Slit their throat open and watch them bleed."

The vengeance in her eyes was unmatched by anything else I had seen in my life. I half expected her green eyes to turn red, like mine had… red eyes… That version of myself seemed so distant now. The actions she hated me for seemed so disconnected from myself, but they were still mine. No matter how much I changed, I would always be the person she wanted.

"If people like that had to suffer a _fraction_ of the pain they cause, they would be dead a dozen times over at least."

My memories immediately took me back to Chen's island, my body being torn apart, my circuitry ripped out of my chest while my functionality was disabled, helpless to do anything. "I'm sure the balance has punished them for it by now."

"Yeah, I hope so." She sighed.

"What if you… did meet that person? What if they were a better person now? What if they had changed?"

She shook her head. "People like that don't change. Someone who's done things that awful could _never_ forgive themselves for it."

 _Never_ forgive themselves? What if they were under the control of the Overlord? Built by the Overlord. Build specifically under the direction of the Overlord for the purpose of stealing blueprints, and building him an army. Was that who I was? A pawn? After the Overlord's rise, I surely would have been deactivated. My purpose would have been fulfilled. But yet here I am, wandering around… without a purpose.

"So, you want to spill _your_ life story to _me_ now?" Her words took me out of my daze. "Who are you anyway? _New_ samurai X. Very creative."

"Actually, I believe Eli may be under the impression that _you_ are the new samurai." His description of me certainly lined up with Maria. Female, green eyes, dark brown hair, smart and strong.

She chuckled a bit to herself. "I'll make sure and act super suspicious once I walk in."

"I'll be sure to be out of sight." I seconded her idea.

"Maybe him thinking I'm a super strong superhero will help him behave a little better."

"You're already plenty strong," I reassured her.

We were quickly approaching the house now, and the night only grew later.

"Thanks. You're doing good things. Don't stop."

"You can count it." I extended a hand as she shook it, firmly. "Good luck, _Samurai X_." She rolled her eyes and grasped the door handle as I hopped onto the roof of the house.

She waved to me before pushing the door open and voices exploded out from the inside.

"Maria!"

"Wow, I was looking for you everywhere and I just couldn't find you! How on earth could you have ever gotten back?"

I smiled to myself as the door closed, knowing the conversation continued on inside. Inside those walls, there was another version of Samurai X inside the mind of a child. To him, I had a different identity, a different purpose, a different life. That version of myself knew him well, and we walked and talked together often. But in the end, I couldn't think of any of that. Not for long anyway.

No matter how much I tried to ignore it, one thought kept pestering me. No matter how many versions did good, the only version of myself that really seemed to matter was the one they hated. The one I thought I had moved past, and reconciled with, but really only ever dismissed.

The one who pressed the button that killed their parents.

And suddenly, it seemed like I could _never_ forgive myself for it.

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 **Hope you enjoyed that chapter! If you liked my OCs well... oh well. Probably not going to see them ever again. Anyway, leave your thoughts down below if you liked it, or not, or if you were impartial to it or whatever, I could always use feedback!**

 **Thanks again so much for reading!**


	3. 8-10: Heather - Protection

**Part three! Here's where we take the turn off the deep end. But Before you do, enjoy yourself a little Pixane!**

 **Happy reading!**

* * *

 **8-10: Heather - Protection**

 _Reflexes. Basic ones._

 _No need to go overboard, but being able to protect others and yourself is necessary in the world we live in today. Protection for those you love is important, and I guess you could say I'm in love with these machines._

 _ **Heather 1. Heather 2. Heather 3.**_

It had been a day. A day, that was all. Life was crazy and miserable, and everything and everyone was in danger but… nothing seemed wrong. Not to me. It didn't make sense. But, being able to talk with the team, for them to know I was alive, it was amazing.

"It was a reflective period. Sometimes it's nice to separate yourself and evaluate where you're at. Connect with the people you protect."

"I get it," Cole agreed. "Understand. Get back to the roots of why we're doing what we're doing, and what being a hero really means."

"And sometimes it's not the big things either." I held out my palm, a slightly faded purple star still stuck to my skin. "I keep this here to remind me of that."

"I bet there's an interesting story there."

I chuckled, remembering where I was, and who had given it to me. "Actually, it involves you."

"Really?"

"Yes. I was-"

I felt hands wrap around my waist as my body was lifted up into the air and spun around. When I landed, Zane's face was inches from mine.

"Zane!"

"Good morning."

We both laughed for a moment, our faces growing closer.

"I have something a want to show you." He broke his contact with me and instead started pulling me by the hand below deck.

I turned around as he tugged me away to see a giddily smiling Cole. "I'll tell you later! I have something I need to do to you!" I called out to him.

" _Do_ to me?"

"You'll see!"

"Have fun!" he called back.

I rolled my eyes and turned back around, giving all my attention to Zane. My lovely, beautiful Zane, that I could touch and feel and hug and… well, _kiss_ I suppose would be the next logical word, but we hadn't exactly gotten that far yet.

He guided me into a room I recognized quite fully as sensei's small tea garden, a beautiful location below deck with windows surrounding the room like a greenhouse, and various plants lining the walls and the ceiling and the floor.

"You kept it up while he's been gone," I smiled looking at the beautiful condition of everything in the room.

"We all helped out. Kai probably spent the most time here. He's not the best gardener, but he put all he had into it."

We spent a lot of time in here when I was a part of his systems. It was a quiet place where we could speak alone without bothering or confusing anyone.

"Cole kept watch on the soil, Nya kept up watering, Lloyd added lots of flowering plants. Jay added some small cactus plants so he wouldn't have to keep up too much maintenance. And I… decided to add-"

"Zane!" my eyes landed on the beautiful purple bunches of petals lining a hidden corner of the room he was guiding me towards. I raced toward them and cradled one of the cascading bunches in my fingers. "They're _so_ beautiful."

"I felt kind of guilty. Everyone else wanted to honor sensei but… I think I took your loss a bit harder. I think sensei would have wanted me to use the garden for what I needed though. And at that point… I just needed a reminder of… you."

Wisteria is classified as a woody climbing vine. Perfect for decorating the untouched corner walls of an already overcrowded garden. "How did you know?"

"Your neural drive was a part of my processor for nearly-"

"Right!" I laughed. "There's no way you could have interfaced with me without seeing-"

"Wisteria. Every morning."

"You never even asked me about it."

"It made sense. It's not especially hard to think of you as a flower." He too touched the small petals that hung in front of him.

"Why?"

He paused for a moment. "You're… soothing, empowering, invigorating… beautiful." His eyes turned from the flowers to me. "And… delicate." he took my hands as a chill went up my spine.

I took one of his hands and held it between both of mine. "Your hands are freezing."

"Are they? I'm sorry, I don't mean to-!"

"I don't mind," I smiled up at him. "As long as you're okay."

I'm sure if his skin had been human, he would have been blushing. "My powers tend to act up when my emotions… intensify."

Zane was built to protect. He knew that. Everyone did, so it only made sense that his emotions were strongest when he felt protective. Sympathy. Some people would just call it love.

"Pixal… I enjoy you, very much. I enjoy having you back, and I enjoy your body, and touching it, and seeing it," he lifted his hand to cup my cheek as I leaned into it, embarrassing the chill. "but… it scares me."

"Why would it scare you?" I laughed.

"When I am a ninja, I have my brothers and Nya, and my falcon all looking out for me. When you go out… you don't have anyone else."

I gripped his hand resting on my cheek. "I can look out for myself. Samurai X is support for the ninja. Always has been. Not the other way around."

He pulled me forward and embarrassed me, holding me tightly to his chest. "I want to protect you," he whispered in my ear.

"You've protected me for years now. Now it's my turn."

He squeezed me just a bit tighter before releasing me and taking my hands again. "I'm glad you're back. I just…" he brushed a stray hair from out of my eyes before his hand found a place to rest behind my ear. "...don't want to lose you again."

I gripped his arms. "Don't worry. I won't let anything separate us again. I promise."

Never.

Someone who lies

Someone who kills

Someone who breaks a promise

Could never forgive themselves for it.

And I didn't.

I couldn't.

I had promised, it was my fault. My fault he was gone. My fault he was dead. My own stupid fault I was suffering through this… Again.

It stings worse the second time. Because it already happened once. It could never happen again. Not Again. Right? So you find yourself a distraction. But the only distraction from his death was the death that surrounded me. I thought I could use my teammates as a distraction, but no… I was theirs. The robot could bring us comfort, right? She would be strong. She would get through it. If no one else, surely she could. But I'm not that kind of robot. I can't just turn off my emotions. Not anymore. Not after Zane touched me with his heart, gave it to me, changed me, made me almost human. He did so much for me. I felt like I owed him everything. My life.

But I couldn't even give that for him.

I had failed. If I couldn't protect the one person in this world who loved me, who could I protect? Was this who I was? Was this my purpose? To destroy lives, to let people down? I knew what it wasn't. I was never built to protect anything. Ever. No. Not protect, _assist._ To put a smile on my face and help with mundane tasks and provide the illusion of easing the pain of others. To be the distraction. I wasn't a person, I was a tool for someone else to use and pretend to feel better. I was an _assistant_. That was it. Nothing more.

The team stuck together, but Ninjago was scattered. We received a call from my father. I couldn't bring myself to talk to him. He didn't even know I was physical again. He had no idea who I was anymore. And if he didn't know me, how could anyone? How could I?

He always believed in second chances. Maybe his faith was misplaced in the building location. Maybe not. It may have brought back the Overlord, but it was also the only major building in the city that still had power. After having defeated the Overlord twice, maybe it has a seal of protection over it. Maybe his second chances only worked the second time around.

It's home to me. Even when being attacked and invaded, it always felt safe. Maybe that makes me overly attached, maybe that makes me comfortable with evil. Either way, it doesn't make sense.

What he told us was that the building had lost power, suddenly, unexpectedly. It was purposely cut off. He didn't have any proof, but he felt certain the tower had been invaded. I suppose it might be hard to tell if the tower had been broken into when there are 100 floors and no alarms functioning. _He_ felt unsafe. It made sense. He didn't know what to do, so he called us. But that's not what interested me. What interested me was the thing he hadn't thought to tell us when it happened.

A security droid had gone missing a few months ago; one that knew the ins and outs of Borg tower, one that would know how to cut the power if he needed to. The one based off of the blueprints of Cyptor.

...my father always did believe in second chances.

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Hope **you enjoyed! Leave your thoughts down below if you liked it, or not, or if you were impartial to it or whatever, I could always use feedback!**

 **Thanks again so much for reading!**


	4. 11-13: Mauve - Control

**WARNING TO ANY ESPECIALLY SENSITIVE READERS: There is some… I'm going to say semi-creepy-male-domination-stuff this chapter, nothing too intense, and most of it is not intended to be read that way, but if you are extra sensitive to stuff like that, I would suggest skipping this chapter.**

 **Part 4! Okay, let me explain some reasonings for this chapter:**

 **First, I know it's pretty much all but confirmed that Mr. E is Echo at this point, something I personally don't agree with character and theme-wise, but it makes sense plot-wise and seems like the direction the series is going in. I name dropped Cryptor last chapter, so it doesn't take much to guess he's going to be here instead of Echo. It makes for better drama, is more in character, forces Pixal to confront her past again, and it's my freakin fanfic, so imma do what I want.**

 **Second, this chapter plays off of a very specific headcanon of mine. I won't tell you what it is, but just keep in mind that at the time of the nindroid invasion, Pixal was the only female droid around… at all… so…**

 **Anyway… happy reading?**

* * *

 **11-13: Mauve - Control**

 _How can something be two things at once? When the whole world, the strongest force of all, takes control of your creation, and what it will become, how is it possible that I could ever make it something else?_

 ** _Mauve 1. Mauve 2. Mauve 3._**

Borg tower had lost power - something the center of all technology would find a bit of a hindrance. The building had been evacuated, my father was safe. He told us that a droid of his had been stolen; luckily we knew of a droid who had recently turned up.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lloyd asked, one last time through the intercom. "We don't know what you're getting into. We have no idea who's in there."

"Of course we do. It only makes sense that the person that cut the power-"

"I mean we don't know if he brought support."

"He's alone, and he wants me," I assured him.

"For what?"

"We… have some things to settle."

"That's why I'm worried there's an ambush waiting inside for you."

"I told you, he'll be alone."

"How do you know?"

I thought for a moment. "I can sense it."

Silence.

"Just be careful, okay Pix?"

"Of course. Lloyd, I'm going to mute you in order to focus my sensors inside."

"We'll be tracking your audio. Good luck."

"Thanks."

I switched off his audio and entered the building. It was dark and cold. Without the lights blinking and buzzing the rooms felt eerily empty. There's just something not right about machinery that doesn't move.

I stopped to evaluate my options. Where would my mysterious enemy wait for me? There was a good chance he could be on the 100th floor - the control center for the whole building. Maybe the factory floor on which we were both made. But no. I knew where he would be expecting me. My old workroom. The place his designs were uploaded in the first place. My legs took me there without a second thought. Up the stairs, down the hall, last door on the left. I opened the door, the room dark and quiet, a shadowed figure standing in the back. I closed the door behind myself. I had no intention of fleeing him.

"The girl comes to see me."

"Mr. Borg went through all the trouble of rebuilding and reprogramming you, and here you are anyway."

"That was his mistake."

"In all honesty, if he had told me he was building security droids with your blueprints, I would have told him that your image should be burned to ashes and forgotten by history."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"Why are you here Mr. E?"

"Please, you need not be so formal. I'm not calling you 'Samurai X' now, am I? We know each other."

"Something I regret every day, _Cryptor_."

"Nice to know you still think of me, _Pixal_."

I started at him through the darkness, his eyes glowing a nasty red. To think my eyes once shared the same color. I stepped forward to the middle of the room.

"What are you doing? What do you have to gain from this?"

He looked at me for a moment. His feet slowly moved forward as he began to circle me.

"I can think of a few things."

"You lured me here for a reason. Why?"

He stopped in front of me. "You're one of the things."

"How do you want to settle this?"

He looked at me, not answering my question. He thought for a moment, his eyes still piercing through me from behind his helmet.

"How's Zane?"

The question caught me off guard. "...why-?"

"Oh," he shrugged and chuckled, shaking his head, lightly. "It's just that the last time we saw him together was when he…" his head slowly turned back to look at me. "died…" our eyes remained connected for another moment. "A shame he had to sacrifice himself for… you."

"His death was _not_ my fault."

"He only had half of his heart, and it overloaded!" He walked towards me. "Guess who had the other half!"

"I would have ripped his heart from my chest in order to rebuild him!"

" _Pixal_ only weakened him, so you decide to abandon him, hide your face, take on a new identity, _Samurai X_ , one set on protecting him… if only you could have done your job." I could feel tears growing in my eyes.

"There was nothing anyone could have done-"

"Sure, sure. Make excuses, blame Harumi, blame _me_ ," his steps took him so we were standing face to face. "but Zane, is dead. Nothing is bringing him back this time." My eyes burned trying to keep tears from running down my cheeks. "What does that make? Two times now you couldn't save him?"

I turned away from him, blinking furiously to try and stop the sting. "Stop."

"Oh, now let's not cry over _him_." I could feel his hands grip my shoulders. "It's been nearly a week now, time to get over it already. He's replaceable."

"Get off of me."

"Oh, Pixal." I heard him take off his helmet. He threw it to the floor in front of me, the noise of metal hitting concrete consuming the room. "Wouldn't you do anything to see him again?" I crossed my arms in front of my body. None of this was going to get to me. "Rip his heart from your chest?" he whispered in my ear. It stung. It echoed around in my head, my own words, twisted by his voice in order to blame me.

His hands slid from my shoulders to my waist. "How would he hold you if he were here? Like this?"

"You aren't him."

"No, but I'm the closest thing you've got." I turned around to face him. My eyes traced the outline of his face… Zane's face, staring back at me with red eyes, and black metal skin. "I'm his clone." his hand gently cupped my cheek. "I can _be_ him."

My head slowly began to shake. "No." My arms guided him away from my body. "No. You can't. You are nothing like him. You're a monster and a murderer, and-"

"Yes, yes, but we can all pretend to be something we're not, Can't we? You've been doing it for months now."

"That's not the point."

"What _is_ the point?!" his voice became sharp and frustrated. "You loved him, yes, but he's gone now! What are you going to do about it? Are you just going to stop loving _anyone_?!"

"What would you have me do? Love _you_?"

"You were built to serve _me!_ " he screamed now, advancing towards me, as I backed up to meet his pace. "To get his designs to make _me!_ To perfect his designs to make _me!_ To take _my_ commands! Listen to _me!_ "

"Give me one reason!"

"It's in your coding! It's a part of you! It's who you are!" he threw his hand forward to hit me, but I caught his wrist before he could touch me.

"Not anymore." He looked at his wrist, shocked. We sat there a few moments, his breath the only sound in the room.

"I respect you Pixal. I really do. I really don't want to have to do this to you, but I think you're being a bit unreasonable."

"Oh, so _now_ you care about what's reasonable?" My grip tightened. "Give it up. You will never be anything like him. I will _never_ want you the way I wanted him." He thought for a moment, our eyes locked onto each other.

"Are you sure?" I gasped, my grip loosening, my heart pounding. His hand guided mine back down to my side, his fingers running against my palm. "Don't you miss this voice?"

It was Zane's. Zane's voice coming out of his mouth. Zane's mouth. My feet stumbled backwards, before my back hit a wall. I closed my eyes, trying to focus.

"You could hear this voice every day if you wanted." My heart melted at the sound of his voice. I opened my eyes again to try and break the illusion. "I could say the things you've always wanted to hear." Tears ran thick over my skin now. His body now cornered me, one of his hands finding its way to my hand, the other gently wiping away the water spilling from my eyes. "I hate seeing you cry."

His inflection, his tone, so genuine, it paralyzed me.

"I love you Pixal."

I closed my eyes, my programming telling me to stay away from him, but my heart telling me to bury my face in his chest. _Zane's_ chest.

"He never told you that, did he?"

I opened my eyes and looked up at him, shaking my head, hesitantly.

"He never kissed you either, did he?"

I bit my lip, refusing to answer, but he didn't need one. His hand already on my cheek, he leaned forward, his lips stopping just in front of mine. "Pixal, is it okay if I kiss you?"

I closed my eyes tightly, more tears slipping out. How could I say no? How could I ever tell _Zane_ no? I opened my eyes. He waited for my answer, but I could hardly get my lips to move. They parted from each other and attempted to speak, but no sound came out. He could see the conflict in my eyes. He could feel it in my body.

He sighed. "I thought that would work."

A sharp pain surged through my system. He had sent a dagger through my chest. My vision cut out, and I felt my body drop to the floor. As my consciousness faded, the last thing I heard was his voice.

Zane's voice.

"I've hacked her systems once, I can do it again."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Random, but try reading this through with Cryptor's voice as Kylo Ren's voice. Idk, that popped into my head while reading it, and it's kind of funny.**

 **Fun bit of trivia, this chapter was written before this fic was in existence! I've changed it a lot since first writing it, but the core concept was the same. I fit it in because I thought it would be just the push our beautiful Pixal needed to be a mess in the next chapter!**


	5. 14-15: Iris - Wisdom

**Part 5! Exciting chapter! Also, intense chapter, so** be **ready.**

Last chapter before the primary reveal and hints of a secondary reveal dropped this chapter as well. Good Luck!

* * *

14-15: Iris - Wisdom

 _Everyone keeps secrets, don't they? Of one kind or another. Some knowledge is best left hidden. For safety. For peace. Or simply just to reveal it later - when it will mean something more than what it does now._

 _Iris 1. Iris 2._

My body felt heavy. But I felt it. I was alive. The ceiling was a dark gray I recognized fairly quickly. The bright fluorescent lights stung my eyes. But they were on. Borg tower had power returned. Which either meant the Sons of Garmadon were utilizing it as a base and had me captured, or-

"It seems like we repair robots more often than we have to care for actual flesh wounds." Nya's voice. The ninja had taken control of the situation.

I attempted to move my fingers. Then my arm. My body began to shift as I sat up.

"Does everything feel okay?"

I looked down at my chest, a clear welding mark apparent where the blade had hit me. "Yeah," I sighed. "Sorry about this. I just…" Just what? Completely lost control and got myself killed?

"Was manipulated." Lloyd finished for me. "The important thing now, is that you're safe."

"Sure," I rolled my eyes. "What did I miss?"

"We've taken control of Borg tower as a base. Most everyone has been evacuated from the city, but what's left is… rough." Lloyd admitted. "We have the rest of the elemental masters helping us now though, so we should stand a chance."

I scanned the room, finding Nya, Lloyd, and even Zane's Falcon, perched neatly on the corner of a work desk. My eyes, however, landed on an orange figure sitting in the corner. This was Skylor, master of Amber. I had seen her occasionally while a part of Zane's systems. She stared at me with a growing fascination. The room was rather small, and the five of us were the only ones present. Lloyd and Nya were my teammates, why was Skylor here? She had never met me before.

"Your systems seem to be in proper order. I ran a diagnosis, and it says wisteria is clear." Nya asked.

"Wisteria?" Lloyd asked.

"It's the name of my software," I explained. "Thank you for repairing me. I know you must have lost some time on it."

"Trust me. We've all had our fair share of total busts since Harumi showed up," Lloyd mumbled.

My eyes returned again to Skylor, eyes still glued to me. I glanced back around the room to find Nya and Lloyd discussing something with very hushed voices against a wall. Probably Nya talking about her feelings. She had been the biggest emotional wreck since the boys… left us. My eyes attempted to return to Skylor, but she was no longer sitting in the corner, but walking towards the falcon. She glanced back at me and attempted a smile before reaching him and beginning to gently rub his drooping head. I hesitantly got up, walking over to join her.

"He's going through mourning," I told her. "Just like last time."

"We all are." We sat in silence for a moment more. "It's so surreal. Seeing you, physically here. I've always heard so much about you."

"I'm nothing particularly special in physical form. Sometimes I think I was more useful when I was just an A.I. I could help everyone, simultaneously, instead of going out on solo missions to get myself killed."

"Sure, but that's not what you were built for. You had a body, so there must have been something physical you were meant to do."

"Yeah," I sighed. "But I don't think any of them were exactly honorable."

"You'll figure it out." She reassured me. "Robots are so fascinating to me. All of the intricacies of living that you can bypass. You just came back to life in a matter of days! That's incredible!"

I smiled. "Yes, but with that, you have to come to terms with the fact that every part of you is replaceable. That you can be hacked, taken control of, reprogrammed. The only thing that makes me human is my heart... and that isn't even mine." I'm made up of all of these loose ends of everyone else. None of it was truly my own creation. I just borrow from the lives of others… "How do you do it?"

"What?"

I thought of how to phrase it. "Figure out who you are, what defines you. You borrow everyone else's elements, you don't necessarily have one of your own. Doesn't that… bother you sometimes?"

"Yeah. It feels like cheating, doesn't it?" she chuckled. "But, I put my own spin on it. Amber? No one else has that. They have parts of it, but not the whole of it. And that's what makes it special. Not the specific elements, but the fact that they are perfectly united together in this weird crazy way to make something completely and totally new." I smiled a bit at her certainty and enthusiasm. "Does any of that make sense? I mean, it does to me… I guess that's all that really matters."

"It doesn't really work like that when you're built, instead of born. You don't really get to choose who you are, it's assigned to you. I've just had so many people build me that… I don't know what I am anymore."

"That's not necessarily true." She objected. "People can be born with their futures planned out by their parents. That doesn't mean you have to follow them. You just go, 'screw you!' and do your own thing!"

We both laughed. "Yeah, that might have worked for you. Some of us have fathers we want to keep in touch with."

"Yeah, okay. So maybe not that, exactly. But, you'll figure it out." she gripped my hand that rested on the table, before promptly letting go. "Your hands are warm."

I gripped her hand in mine again. "Yours are cold. Extremely cold."

"What's going on?"

"Don't worry. This would happen to Zane all the time. You have his powers, right?"

"Yeah."

"They would act up whenever his emotions were strongest."

"Bet it happened a lot around you, huh?" she nudged my arm.

"It was whenever he felt protective of something. That's what he was built to do, so that was what produced the most passion."

"So, what's my strongest emotion?"

"Well, what are you feeling right now?"

She thought for a moment. "Trust… which I guess makes sense. I've been taught to betray, and expect to be betrayed, so, when I trust someone it's… special. And… I trust you."

I let go of her hand and smiled. "Thanks."

"What do you think your strongest emotion is?"

This question made me uncomfortable. I knew the answer, but it wasn't exactly pleasant. "I'd rather not say."

"Come on, you can trust me, can't you?"

I sighed. "Anger. Frustration."

"Really? That doesn't seem right."

"It's because of an emotional glitch no one has been able to fully correct. I try to avoid it as often as possible, because… it consumes me. Just thinking about it-"

"Okay, calm down. Don't think about it then. That doesn't have to be your strongest emotion. In fact, it's not. Let's just forget about it."

"But it is though. It's in my coding."

"You don't have to be defined by your coding."

I bit my tongue for a moment before speaking. "You clearly don't know anything about robotics."

"I'm serious! If you focus on the positive, you won't have to slip into that dark space, it can't force you."

"What do you think I've been doing for all my life? Trying to embrace the worst parts of me? I can't change what I am-!"

It was then that our tone caught the attention of the others. "Guys, what's going on?" Nya asked.

"Yes, you can. I changed who I was. It was hard, really hard, but I did it."

"You? Do something hard? You have all of the powers of the universe at your disposal, and it was hard for you not to destroy everything with them. Oh, poor Skylor."

"Pixal, what's gotten into you?" Lloyd, grabbed my arm.

"That's the point!" I shook him off. "Nothing! Nothing has gotten into me! This is what's inside me."

"You've never acted like this before Pixal," Nya told me. "Maybe when I was fixing-"

"It's called an AIE-ES chip, it's nowhere _near_ the stab wound-!"

"Okay! I get it! Excuse me if I didn't know about it! I haven't really had the clearest of minds!"

"Oh, I'm sorry if I've actually been trying to control my emotions instead of just giving up on them!"

"Some of us don't have coding to help us suppress how we feel!" she shot back.

"Yeah, some of us do! And it's a living _nightmare_!"

"You don't get to complain about your emotions, they're not even real!"

"Nya!" Lloyd grabbed her, stepping between us.

"I said it! They're fake! Manufactured! You will never know what the rest of us are going through right now!"

"Sure! Sure they are! But no one can change that! I'm stuck with them! And _you_ will never know how _I_ feel!"

"Oh please, never change? You were a lifeless, brainwashed, tool when we met you! And you still would be if it weren't for Zane!"

"Yeah, well, Zane's dead."

Dead

Silence

The only sounds were heavy breaths underneath the hum of the computers. Tears formed in everyone's eyes as we held our positions.

I glared at Nya. "And so is Jay." Tears fell from her eyes through her anger.

I turned to see Skylor backed a few feet away from the conflict in shock. "And so is Kai."

"So I guess we're all just loveless idiots trying to hold onto what sanity we have!"

"Pixal," Lloyd started.

"But none of you will _ever_ know how empty that makes me. Because I was never Pixal without Zane. And now that I don't have him anymore, I don't exist! The world tells me, forces me to fit into a box, into an acronym, into something, but I'm not anything! Every piece of me I have left is scraps of someone else's identity. My programming is left over from the Overlord, Samurai X isn't mine, this body isn't really mine. And my heart?!" I opened my chest panel, revealing the glowing power. "It sure as _hell_ isn't mine."

I bit my tongue, hard, and closed my eyes, moving my hand, grasping the piece as a wave of pain shook my body.

"Pixal!"

"Stop!"

"What are you doing?!"

I took a few last deep breaths. I could hear Cryptor's voice sting my ears, over and over, tempting me. "...ripping it out of my chest."

I felt hands grip my arm, trying to move my hand.

"Pixal, listen to me!" Lloyd's voice spoke.

"I'm going to do it! I swear!"

"Pixal-"

"It's not mine." I shook my head.

Lloyd's hands gripped my shoulders. "Pix. Open your eyes. Look at me."

"I-"

"Look at me."

My eyes slowly opened to see his face, inches from mine, no anger, no frantic urgency, just worry. Concern. His strongest emotion. "We need you here. Get ahold of yourself. You don't want this... Zane wouldn't want this."

I looked into his eyes, tears filling mine. His hand cradled mine, as he slowly guided it away from the power source. "There you go. You're fine. Everything is fine."

I could feel the rush of anger cool as I pulled my hand away. The pain left. All that was left was a soreness. My body ached.

"Let go of me." He did as I asked, and stepped away. I looked at the faces around me. "I… need some time to cool off… alone." I started walking towards the door as Lloyd caught my shoulder.

"Take the falcon with you. Just… to make sure you don't do something stupid to yourself." I pressed my eyes shut for a few seconds. Just remember what he said. Zane wouldn't want this. Zane wouldn't want this.

"Yeah. Okay." I glanced back at the bird and motioned for him to follow. He quickly got up and flew behind me, out the door. As it swung open, a large rush of warm air hit me. I walked across the hall to the elevator and hit the call button. The doors opened immediately. I entered and wiped away the tears lingering on my cheeks. I slammed a random floor number and leaned up against the sidewall, as the falcon landed on the handrail across from me.

"You're the only one who gets it. Programming you can't control, makes you go haywire, do things you don't want to do, be things you don't want to be."

We reached our mystery floor as I stepped out, another rush of warm air surrounding me. "Everyone who had the smallest part in building you wants you to be a certain way, all these labels, they drive me crazy!" I could feel my pace speed up as I walked down the hall. "None of them are right! None of them take into consideration how _I_ feel, none of them make sense, and all of them are stupid, oversimplified, one dimensional, mistakes!"

The falcon flew ahead of me, landing atop the only doorway in the hall. "But maybe I am! Maybe I am simple! Sum me up in one word! See where that gets you! Because when that word disappears, I disappear! I'm sick of people telling me who I am! What I am!" I reached the doorway, and read the plaque beside the door.

P.I.X.A.L.

It taunted me. My own name mocked me. An acronym. That's all I was, wasn't it? A stupid, clinical, acronym. Assistant. I'm not an assistant. I'm not a puppet. I'm not a servant or a tool-

"I AM NOT AN ACRONYM!"

Before I knew that I was doing, my fist hit the wall, and the plaque was snapped in half, lying on the floor. I stared at the emptiness I front of me as tears welled up in my eyes. As they fell, my body crumpled, sliding to the ground. I cried. Sobbed. Every part of me hurt. My body. My mind. My soul. All bruised, broken, and tired. Aching.

My fingers gently picked up the two halves of my name that lay on the floor in front of me and pieced them back together.

"What am I doing to myself?"

I separated the pieces again, the space between them filling with the falcon. I smiled. "You always seem to know what to do. Why did you bring me here?"

He cocked his head to the side.

I looked down at the metal in my hands. "I mean, my name was here-" I stopped in realization, and stood up, turning to look at the wall. "Almost like a door marker… but I've never been here before. Why would it have my name?" I looked down at the Falcon, as he looked back up at me. "Alright. You heard what Lloyd said though. If I go in, you've got to come with me." He let out a shriek in agreement.

I turned back to the door, and slowly pushed it open.

Warm air rushing out.

Cold air rushing in.

* * *

Alright. That's it. What's behind the door? The last clue I will give you, the last thing I'm going to say, is the next chapter's title.

16: Wisteria - Mystery

Good luck!


	6. 16: Wisteria - Mystery

16: Wisteria - Mystery

 _It's strange. I'm not sure why everything finally clicked. She's a complete mystery. But she's mine, she's exactly what I've always wanted to be, and nothing can ever take that away from her._

 _Wisteria 1._

The room was gray; that icky gray that isn't dark, but most certainly can't be described as light. The gray that tired eyes have to squint through, and bright eyes have to adjust to. The gray that makes you feel sick and tired and heavy. The light switch in most rooms was on the left side of the doorway. The same was true here. The one central light buzzed on to reveal a cluttered room, wires and metal scattered everywhere and a large desk with a computer monitor at the edge of where the light in the room faded into darkness.

The falcon flew in front of me, landing next to the screen. I stepped hesitantly in, my footsteps echoing on the marble floor. The room looked older as if it had never been remodeled, like the majority of the rooms in the building. I watched my footing as I walked. Small screws and bolts and cogs were littered around the floor. I approached the desk, seeing many small sticky notes scattered about along with countless papers, scraps of blueprints, and a small journal labeled _Progress._

I delicately picked up the book, opening it to observe its contents. Most of it was filled with calculations, brief sketches, and notes from Borg to himself about which combination of components worked best together for a certain function. However, every once and a while there was a note scribbled angrily in the margins or on top or to the side of a drawing, or sometimes sitting on a page by itself. Alone and isolated. They said things like 'how many of them will it take?', 'It hurts me to dismantle another one of them.' and 'I couldn't tell her about them.' Who was _them_?

My first instinct was to say the nindroid army. There were plenty of them, and the subjects of the notes were clearly droids. Borg had a habit of getting attached to his creations. But the nindroid army was most definitely made in a remodeled room, certainly one bigger than this. Then again, there was a good chance the journal could have been brought from another room. It wasn't far-fetched at all to think Borg had carried around a notebook of ideas during his inventing golden age.

I turned my eyes to the screen in front of me, attempting to turn it on… nothing. The falcon pecked on the side of the desk at something. Papers. I picked them up to observe their contents. Nothing particularly interesting. But the falcon still pecked at the table where they had been. I set the papers down, and upon closer inspection the table appeared to have a small door embedded in it. I flipped it open to see a switch. I glanced back at the falcon, only to receive blank glances in return. I returned my eyes to the switch, my fingers stretching out, and carefully flipping it upward.

Lights on the ceiling in front of me clicked on, dim, but lighter than the rest of the room. They seemed to go on endlessly, down the ever-growing room until the wall at the far end was finally revealed. And the ground.

16

16 large rectangular holes in the ground. Big enough for bodies. Mangled, dysfunctional, metal bodies.

I was standing in the middle of a mechanical graveyard.

My feet moved backwards on instinct, my heart pounding, legs shaking. The falcon flew over to the first of the graves, landing on a small plaque in front of it. He squawked, beckoning me to join him. I shook my head softly. I could feel tears forming in my eyes.

"Why would you bring me here?"

He cried out to me again, insistent that I should come closer - look at the dead machinery.

I closed my eyes tightly and took in a deep breath. Once I reopened them, I began taking small steps towards the bird. As I approached the first grave my eyes were better able to observe the contents. A female droid. Mouth gaping open, eyes that used to be bright white in color, one burned out, the other simply broken. She had bright white hair, now tangled and dirtied. Deep gray skin, except for her lips - white like her hair. Stubbs of wires sat where her arms should be. I large seam split her face down the middle, and a mess of wires sat where her stomach would have been. There was nothing below that. She sat there, barely half of a body, staring the empty confinement she sat in.

The tears slipped down my cheeks so easily. I was used to feeling them there by now. I kneeled down in front of her, where the falcon stood. "What's the point? What is this?" The falcon jumped off of the plaque he stood on. A sort of memorial stone if you wanted to call it that. I pushed the thick layer of dust from its surface, squinting to make out the message inscribed on it.

 _Violet 1._

Borg always named his droid units the same way. The name of their first software, followed by what update of the software was specific to that model. This droid was the first one to utilize the _Violet_ software.

Violet.

That software sounded familiar.

I looked up over the four rows, my vision clouding with more and more water.

16

16 graves

 _Hello_

 _Welcome to_

 _Borg Industries_

 _I'm P.I.X.A.L._

 _The Primary_

 _Interactive_

 _X ternal_

 _Assistant_

 _Lifeform_

 _Cyrus's designated_

 _Assistant and automated_

 _Tour guide_

 _16th_

 _Model in my line_

16

"These… they're all…"

Me.

These were my technological ancestors, my sisters. They were versions of myself I can never know of or hope to understand. I was sitting in front of 16 of my own gravestones. My own bodies, lying here, empty and lifeless. Dead. Motionless. It's unnatural. Worse than a human corpse.

These bodies don't decay, they don't get absorbed into the earth. They lay silently for eternity, just the same as the moment life left them. That moment defines the rest of their existence, that horrifying image never gets erased. Nothing changes after that, nothing moves. It's like walking through a still image. There's nothing in them anymore. They are the definition of empty. Cold. Hollow.

I walked through the graves slowly, following the falcon as he lead me along his desired path. I took in each appearance, each slight change from model to model.

 _Violet 2. Violet 3._

Purple was added slowly to the design. First the lips, then the eyes. Sometimes the hair. Allways different shades.

 _Violet 4. Violet 5. Lavender 1._

He experimented with different shapes. Sometimes the bodies seemed very square, other times the design was more circular.

 _Lavender 2. Heather 1. Heather 2. Heather 3._

Always purple. He would never let go of the color. Never blue, or red, or green, It was all black and white and gray… and purple.

 _Mauve 1. Mauve 2._

All of the software was named after purple. All different shades of purple. Dark ones, light ones, soft ones, harsh ones, they were all accounted for.

 _Mauve 3. Iris 1. Iris 2._

I studied each body with a sense of longing. What was this version of me like? Did they feel anything? Would they like who I am now? What was my father thinking when he built this one? Sometimes there would be little trinkets or notes in the grave with the bodies. Some of them had quick, sweet memories scribbled out on them about the time we celebrated his birthday, or the time I tried to dance with him. It was always Pixal, too. Never the model name, just Pixal, like they were all the same person to him. Sometimes he would spell it out P.I.X.A.L., sometimes just PIXAL, and on occasion just… Pixal. I liked the way that one looked. Like a name. A person.

Some of the notes were work notes. Some about how hard it was to get the skin to feel natural on Heather 2, or the tricky wire situation in the left elbow joint of Mauve 3. There were many that simply read _Thermal Coil!_ In large letters. I chuckled, knowing how often he had struggled, even with mine. They also gave brief glimpses into his struggle in making me. The impractical hardware, the unnatural programming, getting those elements to mesh. The Overlord.

He fought over how much he should submit to the Overlord. Obey his directions exactly? Try to sneak in a few ways to reverse the process? He couldn't live with himself if he didn't at least try. He wrote it all down on paper. The physical realm, so that the Overlord couldn't get to it. It kept him sane, working on me. On these bodies. On Pixal.

Pixal seemed like such a much larger experience now, one that I was hardly a part of, like I had lost my memory. Each plaque was a new story I had never heard about myself. Each body was a phase of my life I didn't know I had been through. I would kneel in front of each body for a moment, soaking in the image while the falcon would sometimes fly down with them, finding particular notes he would carry in his beak for me to read. I would cry, and laugh, and sit and listen to the crisp nothingness in the air before he would gently beckon me over to the next one. The first few went slowly. The rest seemed to go all too fast. I ran out of information too quickly. I craved more. My cheeks were stained, and small droplets littered the floors and the papers I held.

As I approached the last grave, I realized… it was empty. There was nobody to fill this hole, because this one, the last one, the 16th one… was mine. Really truly _mine_.

 _Wisteria 1._

This was meant for the body stuck on Chen's island. The one the world thought was gone when Zane's hard drive lost track of me. There was nothing to put in this pit. There had been no trace of me remaining when I had left. As if I never existed.

Only one thing lay on the marble on that floor alongside my reflection: a few old papers held together by a paper clip. I glanced over at the falcon. He wasn't going to get this one for me. This one for me.

I shifted my legs, slowly lowering myself down. Soon I had two feet firmly planted in my grave. I glanced back at the falcon one more time.

"You… don't have to come with me for this one."

I turned back to the papers, lowering myself to my knees one more time, my body now completely consumed by the four walls around me.

I reached for the papers, and gently lifted them into my hands, reading the title page:

P.I.X.A.L.

I flipped to the first page as I read what I easily recognized as my father's handwriting.

 _P.I.X.A.L. was an attempt to create life. To make an android who could serve as an assistant and a friend to all those who need one. Namely, me. The hardest part in this process has been capturing the spark of a female. Capturing grace and strength matched with kindness and security. It took me 16 attempts, but I made her. She's unique and a bit unconventional, but she's not supposed to be anything else. She is not made for anyone else to judge. She's my daughter, she was made to be something I could be proud of. She was made for small moments and strong connections._

 _It's strange. I'm not sure why everything finally clicked. She's a complete mystery. But she's mine, she's exactly what I've always wanted her to be, and nothing can ever take that away from her. She was made in order to make herself, to be as human as possible so I could have someone real to stand beside me._

 _I won't be rebuilding her. Not ever. You can't make a person come back, so why should she? She became a unique individual, I will never be able to recapture that. So, this marks the end of the P.I.X.A.L. line. She will forever live in my heart as my greatest creation. Even if her legacy doesn't live on in the eyes of the world, she will always be remembered by those who knew her._

 _Goodbye, my flower._

I could hardly read. My hands shook so violently, my tears fell so quickly, my heart ached so dearly. I wanted to hug my father, tell him how I loved him, how selfish I had been, hiding from him for all this time, thank him for working tirelessly on me.

The final page was a copy of my final blueprints. Attached in the corner was a small section of Zane's blueprints - his heart. I smiled. I studied the prints for a moment, finding any number of things that had changed. The dent Kai had given my forearm. The paint designs that had scratched off my shoulder, and then been crudely redrawn by the best efforts of Cole. The wiring Jay had altered, the Samurai X attachments Nya had given me, the small good luck bead Lloyd had given to me, woven into my hair, the quickly fading star sticker on my palm. A lot had changed since I had been created. I hadn't decided much of it for myself. All of the people around me had affected me in so many small and simple ways.

But I guess that's what made me special. I was completely impressionable. I didn't have a set purpose, it became whatever people around me needed. I was… built to assist.

My back found its way to the floor. I looked up at the ceiling. The gray ceiling. The familiar and comforting gray I was used to seeing. I pressed the papers up against my chest. I had fulfilled so many roles. A monotone assistant, a puppet to the Overlord, a caring daughter, a comfort to Zane, a personal A.I., Samurai X, and now… whatever's next. I could do so much, fulfill so many needs. There were so many sides to me, so many shades, gray, and dark, and vibrant, and soft, and light and dull. But I guess in the end it doesn't really matter how many different shades I am because, in the end, it's all just…

 _purple_.

 **Thanks so much for reading!**

 **The 16 model thing is entirely canon, it was in her description for a while. I just took it the... extra step.**

 **Last depressing chapter! You made it through! Yay!**


	7. Purple - Assistance

Purple - Assistance

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"I was overreacting, and I wasn't thinking straight. That wasn't me."

"I get it. I do. I _really_ do."

"I didn't hurt you or anything, did I?"

Nya shook her head. "No. You scared me a bit though."

"I don't mean to. Everything is just so… wrong. Nothing feels like it fits anymore. No matter what I do, nothing feels… okay."

We both looked out over the crowded room, busy talking, calculating, and arguing. It was not easy trying to coordinate this many people who had hardly ever worked together. Not to mention the weight of those already lost in the fight. Everyone copes with acceptance in different ways. Some bury it, some embrace it, some find hope, some find rage, and some of us find our purpose. And then, there are those of us who can't accept it.

"…I think they're alive."

"Nya-"

"No, I do. I really do."

"You're just going through denial."

"No. It's not like that. Jay and I… we…" she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to collect her logic. "We were supposed to be together. We were supposed to have a family together, and live a life together, and grow old together, I know that. I can feel it in my soul, and Jay… he saw it. He saw the future and…" her eyes glossed heavily in the bright work lights. "That has to be true… Jay wouldn't lie to me… not about something like that… right?" tears spilled out of her eyes as her body shook. I gripped her hand with mine and placed my other on her shoulder.

"Perhaps this future is to be fulfilled in the next life. If nothing else, everyone will be united again then." As for myself, I was a bit uncertain. I knew Zane had at least a soul like essence within him. It was what made him feel and act and… dream. But I did not know how real I was. If I had a soul. If I died, would I be subject to an eternal nothingness, or would I join the souls of my friends? I did not know, but such things didn't terribly trouble me. Not anymore.

"No. It's not like that. We were supposed to be here and physical, it was supposed to be real! We were real." Her voice grew more intense.

"I fear there is no logical way in which they could have survived."

She tore her hand away from mine. "This is the one thing I have Pixal!" her body was stiff and ridged, slightly trembling as her eyes looked up at the ceiling."This is my one thing. It's the only thing that's going to get me through this. Just…" she closed her eyes in desperation. "Let me have this one, okay?"

I froze for a moment, and then retracted my hands, folding my arms across my body. Why was she so hostile towards my acceptance of the situation? Would it not benefit her to accept it herself?

"They're coming!" Griffin sprinted into the room from his patrol duty. "Mr. E is knocking down our door, and if we don't do something, fast, we are all toast!"

The room was quiet.

Lloyd closed his eyes in concentration. "We don't have the resources to go and pick off the Sons of Garmadon one by one."

"Besides," Skylor chimed in. "If it's just Mr.E, then it's clearly a distraction meant to separate us."

"We can't just let him waltz in here!" Griffon insisted.

"We are _not_ sending half of us out there only to get ambushed on the other side by the full army." Lloyd insisted.

"Then what do we send, one person?" Skylor questioned. "One person isn't going to cut it. They would know it was a distraction. We need something big enough to address the issue, something legitimately intimidating that looks like effort or they will simply try to separate us more!"

"I can do it."

The room went quiet as I stood.

"Samurai X is a mech." I started walking towards the center of the room - towards Lloyd. "It's a big enough force to cause a threatening distraction, it only deploys one person, and Mr.E will certainly be distracted enough by my presence to forget the absence of anyone else."

"No way," Lloyd shook his head. "You know what happened to you the last time you fought him. He's dangerous!"

"He's my little brother."

"You tried to kill yourself."

"But I didn't."

"And then he killed you."

"I got over it."

"Your eyes were _red_ , Pixal!"

I stopped in my tracks. Red? My eyes hadn't been red since the Overlord had control of me. They were never supposed to be that color again. Why had no one told me? Were they trying to protect me from it? Hide it from me? Were they… scared of me? I glanced back at Nya for confirmation. She hid her eyes.

"Does that bother you, Lloyd? Scare you? You think I'm dangerous because I still have some unusual coding left in me? Does that define me to you?"

"Of course not Pix, it's just-"

"So you can't trust me now, because I can be hacked and reprogrammed and imperfect?"

"No, Pixal-"

"Why can't I go out and protect you then?"

"Because I'm not losing you!" He screamed. "I'm not losing _anyone!_ I've lost enough for one week!" His breath was heavy, and his heart rate was extremely elevated. "I've lost my love, I've lost my powers, I've lost my father, I've lost my brothers, I've lost my sensei, I'm done losing things! And I'm not going to let you go out there and get yourself killed again!"

"Someone has to go out there."

The room was quiet as he thought. "Send me out," Nya spoke from the back. "I can hold them off, you don't need me for much else."

"No way. Have you been listening?" Lloyd asked.

"Nya," I turned to look back at her. "It's a suicide mission."

She sighed. "Yeah. I know."

I quickly ran back to her, cradling her broken head in my hands, and whipping away the tears on her cheeks. "I can be rebuilt. You, can't."

She pressed her eyes together tightly. "If your neural drive gets damaged, then-"

"Then… Samurai X is… expendable." More tears grew in her eyes. "You know that."

She looked at me for a moment and then slowly nodded her head. I slowly let her go and turned back around to face Lloyd. "I'm your best option."

"You're sure you want to do this?"

"Of course. I was built to assist, wasn't I?"

* * *

There you go! I really think that Pixal's programming as an assistant would stick with her, making her totally willing to step in between any of her friends, and danger. Anyway, I know not much happened here, but next is the very first idea I had for this fic, so that should be fun!

Thanks for reading!


	8. PIXAL

Well… Here it is. Here's the end. It's kinda bittersweet. I like this ending a lot, some people might disagree, and I understand, but it's what I want it to be, so that's all that matters. The two things that this fic was built around were chapter 6, and the image of Pixal walking through the snow in triumph. It first came to my mind when listening to this song, which I think sets the tone for this chapter really well. Anyway, this is the last official chapter, but I will be writing an epilogue because I have some ideas about how Zane and Pixal would reunite after all of this that I don't want to go to waste. Anyway… here it is!

Happy Reading!

* * *

P.I.X.A.L.

I sat alone in a launching room, where my mech was stored, with Nya, fixing a couple things before I flew off. The room was strangely quiet. No one had anything to say, so no one said anything. I knew Cryptor was out there waiting for me. Or someone at least. He killed me once. I know how he does it, he manipulates your mind. I know every piece of technology he has, I know his blueprints, the only thing he had over me was emotional ground. But I've taken that back. I don't have that weakness for him to hit anymore. He's used my identity against me, he's used Zane against me, he's used my past against me… what does he have left?

"When we were repairing you I equipped you with a visual cloaking device," Nya interrupted my thoughts. "The same that… _was_ in Zane's systems."

"I expect that will prove to be quite useful."

"Yeah, I figured. I was just wondering if you had a preset you wanted to use. I know you probably haven't thought much about what your human alter ego would look like, but-"

"Green eyes. And brown hair. Dark brown."

She paused for a moment. "Oh. Okay, cool. Any particular reason why?"

I glanced down at the fading purple star on my palm. "I just… have a feeling that's what I look like."

"Alright. I'll get that set for you." I stepped back from my work, glancing over the machinery one last time. The Falcon landed next to me as if prompting me.

"I suppose I should go now."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"

"I'm sure." I held out my arm as the Falcon jumped to rest upon it. "I've got this guy to look out for me. I'll be fine." I gently pet the bird, smiling at Nya.

Nya smiled back, halfheartedly. "Yeah. Be careful, okay?"

"Of course. You stay alive as well."

"Why?" She rolled her eyes jokingly as I began to climb the mech, the Falcon following me.

"You know, for… when Jay gets back."

I could see her tear up as I reached the cockpit. "It's okay. You don't have to pretend. How about just… for when _you_ get back."

I thought for a moment. "For when we're all together again."

Nya gave me a slight nod as I smiled. I turned my attention to the open doors in front of me. Only a second and I had left the building and was headed towards danger. Cryptor was holding a mass of bikers behind him only a few yards away from Zane's memorial statue.

So, he was playing the emotional card again.

Flakes of white fell gently around the sky, nicely accenting Zane's figure, watching over the land. The Falcon flew in front of my vision. Cryptor sat atop his bike looking up at us as if we were his pray. I began to land the mech between him and the statue, and ejected myself, rolling as I hit the ground, standing as the mech touched the snow behind me, the falcon circling above the rest of his men.

"I would suggest you leave," I told him.

He dismounted off his bike and held up his hand, restricting those behind him. He slowly approached me. "Fancy seeing you here… alive."

"What do you want?" I demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Is it really you? Take off your mask."

"Only if you take off yours."

I slowly lifted the helmet from my head and dropped it to the snow. He followed as promised, and lifted his off, revealing his face. His helmet shortly found a home next to mine. The men behind him seemed surprised that both of us would shed our helmets for the other so casually. Maybe they were right to be surprised. Neither of us liked our identity open, and to lower myself to do it for him was slightly appalling. But at the same time, I didn't mind. Cryptor was something to be reckoned with. I respect him too much to insult his intelligence by hiding my face from him.

"You need to leave, or you need to make a move. It's your choice."

"Well, we're not leaving," He shrugged.

"I get it," I rolled my eyes. "You're a distraction, I know that, you know that I know that. I'm your distraction, you know that, I know that you know that. You want to keep me busy, I want to keep you busy. Kill me again if you want to, but know that if you do I'm going to take down at least half of your men with me."

"I don't doubt you." He shook his head. "That's not what I've come here to do."

I looked at him in confusion for a few moments. He had to be lying. "What do you want from me?! I come to you wanting to talk, and you kill me, I come to you ready to die, and you spare me. What are you getting at?!"

This made him nervous. He glanced behind himself at his men. "Hold your ground." He held his hand up and then began walking towards me, his expression growing increasingly uncomfortable. His steps took him increasingly near to me, the Falcon trailing closely behind him. His body was soon standing right in front of mine. I took a step back from him.

"I don't like you that close to me."

He stepped forward again. "Look, Pixal. The truth is… I don't have it in me to kill you again."

I studied his manor again. He wasn't lying. "So, what? You're going to have someone else kill me?"

"No. I don't want you dead."

I crossed my arms. "What _do_ you want?"

"I don't know anymore." He shook his head. "I don't know why I'm here, I don't know what I'm doing. Harumi offered me life, and I took it. I enjoy causing chaos and all, but nothing feels right when it's with her. I… I want to do it with you."

"You're out of your mind."

"No! Listen to me!" He grabbed my hand. "If you don't come with me now, Harumi is going to get to you, she'll capture all of you, she'll deactivate you, or reprogram you. If you come with me now, you still have your free will."

"I'll die before she catches me."

"Come on. Think of how great a team we used to be. We could do that again!" He took my other hand. "I'd have a crazy idea to rage war on someone, you'd keep me in check… you always were the goody two shoes."

I smiled, looking down at his hands.

"Come on. Don't you miss this?"

I looked back up at him, breaking his grasp. "Actually Cryptor, I miss a lot of things. I miss my home. I miss my friends… I miss Zane. You? You're at the bottom of the list."

"You'll come back. Eventually. No one can ever change that much." He turned to walk back to his men.

"You know what? Maybe you're right! I haven't changed. But that's because I was never like you. I was never a mindless, chaotic, droid! I was Cyrus's passion project! I had love put into my designs! I was valued! You will never know what that feels like!"

He stopped and turned to look at me. "Excuse me?"

"Borg never loved you! Not the way he loved me!"

"That doesn't matter anymore! I will never change! You will never change-!"

"Yes, I will! My whole purpose was to change! To fit the needs of those around me! To overcome!"

"And what are your teams needs now?! You just lost four of your most powerful elemental masters! You can't adapt to fill that! They're gone!"

"We lost them, but we have power to overcome that! I have power to overcome that! Zane's heart still beats in my chest! His energy runs through me! He powers me! He powers me so that I can overcome their loss!"

Cryptor laughed. "So poetic, yet so stupid! What does his power actually do for you? Show me! Show me how having a dumb light in your chest can replace Zane." My eyes clouded with tears as he continued to scream at me. The men behind him were getting restless, and his patience was proving to be very thin. "Show me you can change! Show me you can fill the gap that he's left!"

My eyes fell to the ground. The white flakes that stuck to my eyelashes, and piled higher and higher on the ground. My eyes met with the falcon, sitting at my side, looking up at me with hope. With assurance. We had been Zane's closest family. We knew Cryptor was right. There was no replacing him. Nothing could make up for Zane. The falcon stared at me expectantly. Maybe to do something, say something back? No. Something else. He was waiting for me to think something, feel something… realize something.

I wiped the tears from my eyes. Maybe Zane didn't need replacing, but his legacy needed to stay alive. I was the person who had the power to do that. I had a piece of him ingrained into my being. We were two halves of one whole. How could I abandon that? We had been the same person, shared a body, and a life, and a soul. He would want me to continue that soul. He would want me to take the power he had given me.

Power… Zane gave me power… Zane gave me _his_ power.

I placed a hand over his heart. He gave me half of himself…

I rose an arm for the falcon to rest on. The weight of the bird on my arm felt good. It felt right. It felt like something Zane would have wanted. I looked up at Cryptor, waiting expectantly for me to speak, move, anything.

"I can't replace Zane. But I can carry on what he started."

"And what's that?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I smirked before turning around. The falcon flew in front of me - towards the statue. I began taking slow steps. The soft snow beneath my feet cradled me as I moved. Specks swirled around me and the wind took my hair off my neck. I closed my eyes and focused on the energy within me. It grew. It intensified. And yet it was calm. Peaceful. Still.

I opened my eyes and gazed up at the statue. Zane. "I know what I am now," I whispered. "Thank you."

I closed my eyes again, letting the energy inside me take over. I heard voices behind me. Screams. Cryptor's screams. A roar of people behind me. A wave of destruction now headed towards me. Ready to kill me.

But I wasn't ready to let Zane die.

I wasn't ready to let us die.

I wasn't ready to die.

Not this time.

I felt my body. It felt lighter. My feet felt light. My head felt light. My arms felt light. Almost like I was floating. I felt the air. It was cold. The air around me was cold. The air in my lungs was cold.

But my hands…

My hands were colder.

* * *

Thanks so much for reading! If you're looking for more, my next big project is

 **If I Were Here**

Another Pixane angst fic that takes Zane's perspective.

I've really enjoyed sharing this with you guys, and hope to share more with you in the future!

Thanks a bunch!

\- Maya (Parachutingkitten)


	9. Epilogue

Just some cute ideas that didn't really fit into the main narrative, or theme or anything, but this is where it falls timeline-wise, and it's cute, so whatever, here it is.

* * *

Chaos surrounded us. Swarmed around us in circles, blurring together, and then disappearing into… stillness. The only thing I saw was him. The only thing he saw was me. But it wasn't… the same. It didn't feel real. Disbelief filled both of us. Uncertainty. Doubt. Fear almost. We stood across from each other, our bodies becoming tiny silhouettes through the layers of snow falling from the sky. Everything was white. Pure. Untouched. One might think the moment was heavenly - but the ninth circle of hell is covered in ice.

My body shook. Not because of the cold. I looked at him, his blue eyes shining through the air piercing me with a feeling I couldn't quite place. He scared me. That silhouette, that image had killed me. Betrayed me. A part of me wished his eyes hadn't met mine. That I could fade into the wind to escape him. To escape myself. His eyes turned to his surroundings in curiosity. I stood in the middle of an explosion of ice. Shards littered the ground near me, growing larger and larger the farther out they lie. His hand lightly brushed the edge of one he stood next to. His eyes wandered back to mine, almost asking… _did you do this?_

I didn't need to answer. He already knew.

His feet began moving forward, adrenaline running through me, panic setting in as my body stepped back in response. He stopped, confused as to why I might avoid him. Was there a way I could know it was him? _Really_ him? To know that he wouldn't hurt me? That my feelings wouldn't control me again, blind me to my situation? Was there a way to keep my body from shaking?

My fingers found their way to a small button positioned on my chest, and gently applied pressure, my chest panel opening. The only way I could know it was him, is if he gave me power. He was the one who held the other half of my heart. Only he could ever do that.

He stared at me for a moment, and then began to move, his hand shifting as another blue light appeared through the snow. Tears filled my eyes as the wave of relief hit me. It didn't help me stop shaking. My hands rose to my face to brush away the water as I fell to my knees. I could hear feet running towards me and soon cold arms surrounded me, cradling my head as I sobbed. His soft whispers slowly quieted my cries, as I rose my head to see him. I traced the shape of his face with my fingertips as he smiled.

"I didn't think it could really be you. I thought you were gone."

His hand cupped my left cheek as more tears fell from my eyes. "I'm here. It's me. It's _really_ me."

I covered his hand and guided it down as I composed myself. "I missed you," I smiled, giggling through blurred vision.

This time he joined me, a few tears falling from his eyes. "I… I missed you too."

We sat together in the middle of this storm, gripping each others' hands and slowly taking control of our breaths as we adjusted to each other's presence. His eyes remained fixated on mine, his expression growing to be extremely at peace.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"I think…" he began. "I think I'd like to kiss you." Our eyes remained locked for a moment more before he became flustered. "But I don't know that it would be appropriate, seeing as we haven't done so before."

My hands gripped his tighter. "Well, maybe we could just start with…" I leaned forward and placed my lips on his cheek for a brief moment.

And now both of us were shaking.

* * *

IT'S DONE! IT'S FINISHED! I DID IT! I DID SOMETHING! YAY! NOW I CAN WRITE OTHER THINGS! But will probably still write things eerily similar to this so…

Thanks for reading!


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